The ultimate goal of the study is to attenuate the harmful hypermetabolic responses associated with burn injury. The hypotheses to be tested are: (1) Growth hormones improves donor site wound healing in burn patients and improves net protein balance in the wound and muscle; (2) propranolol, a non-selective beta-blocker, will decrease cardiac work and the rate of peripheral lipolysis and hepatic steatosis without affecting protein dynamics, and (3) the combined effects of growth hormone and propranolol will ameliorate the hypermetabolic response more effectively than either one alone by decreasing cardiac dynamics, peripheral lipolysis and hepatic steatosis and improving wound healing and protein dynamics in muscle and wound of all ages including the very young and the elderly. The studies are therefore relevant to the treatment of massively burned patients of all ages in order to shorten hospital stay, decrease their hospital morbidity and provide improved functional outcome following this devastating injury.